(copyright) Copyright 2001 James W. Wieder.
A portion of this patent document contains material subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objections to the facsimile reproduction of the document in the exact form it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office documents, but otherwise reserves all other copyrights whatsoever.
Not Applicable.
Not Applicable.
1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to music, specifically to the creation and playback of recording-industry music and audio, such that each time a composition is played back a unique version is generated, in a manner defined by the artist.
2. Prior Art
Current methods for the creation and playback of recording-industry music are fixed and static. Each time a recording artist""s composition is played back, it sounds essentially identical.
Since Thomas Edison""s invention of the phonograph, much effort has been expended on improving the exactness of xe2x80x9cstaticxe2x80x9d recordings. Examples of static music in use today include the playback of music on records, analog and digital tapes, compact discs, DVD""s and MP3. Common to all these approaches is that on playback, the listener is exposed to the same audio experience every time the composition is played.
A significant disadvantage of static music is that listeners strongly prefer the freshness of live performances. Static music falls significantly short compared with the experience of a live performance.
Another disadvantage of static music is that compositions often lose their emotional resonance and psychological freshness after being heard a certain number of times. The listener ultimately loses interest in the composition and eventually tries to avoid it, until a sufficient time has passed for it to again become psychologically interesting. To some listeners, continued exposure, could be considered to be offensive and a form of brainwashing. The number of times that a composition maintains its psychological freshness depends on the individual listener and the complexity of the composition. Generally, the greater the complexity of the composition, the longer it maintains its psychological freshness.
Another disadvantage of static music is that a recording artist""s composition is limited to a single fixed and unchanging version. The recording artist is unable to incorporate spontaneous creative effects associated with live performances into their static compositions. This imposes is a significant limitation on the creativity of the recording artist compared with live music.
And finally, xe2x80x9cvariety is the spice of lifexe2x80x9d. Nature such as sky, light, sounds, trees and flowers are continually changing through out the day and from day to day. Fundamentally, humans are not intended to hear the same identical thing again and again.
The inventor is not aware of prior art that has attempted to include artist-defined variability into the playback of recording artist music and audio compositions. The following is a discussion of the prior art that have employed techniques to reduce the repetitiveness of music instruments or sound effects. None of this prior art discusses the applicability to artist-defined variability in the playback of recording industry compositions.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,787,073 by Masaki describes a method for randomly selecting the playing order of the songs on one or more storage disks. The disadvantage of this invention is that it is limited to the order that songs are played. When a song is played it always sounds the same.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,350,880 by Sato describes a keyboard instrument to allow a user to create music. A fixed stored sequence of tones (individual notes) can be played back automatically by the keyboard instrument. A method of varying the sound of a tone, each time it is played, is described. Some of the disadvantages of this invention are: 1.) The invention is limited to tones. 2.) The sequence of tones played is always the same. 3.) The musical quality and complexity is limited since the tones are limited to those synthetically generated from a set of tone parameters 4) The music is generated by synthetic methods which is significantly inferior to humanly created musical compositions 5) Recording artist creativity and control is not embedded in the process.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,121,533 by Kay describes a musical instrument capable of generating musical sound effects. Some of the disadvantages of this invention are 1) It is a musical instrument 2) Human interaction is needed to operate the instrument 3) The tones and notes are represented as data parameters that drive a synthesizer 4) The invention is limited to sequences of synthetic tones or notes 5) The sound is generated by synthetic methods which is significantly inferior to humanly created musical compositions. 6) Recording artist creativity and control is not embedded in the process.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,230,140 (and related U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,832,431, 5,633,985 and 5,267,318) by Severson, et al describes methods for generating continuous sound effects. The sound segments are played back, one after another to form a long and continuous sound effect. Many of the disadvantages of this invention are related to sound effects being significantly simpler than recording industry compositions. Additional disadvantages arise due to the use of randomness in the selection of groups, in-order to allow continuing reuse of sound segments and thereby reduce storage memory. Some disadvantages of this invention are: 1) Recording artists would not have enough control of the playback results because of the excessive unpredictability in the selection of groups 2) No provision for multiple channels 3) No provision for inter-channel dependency or complimentary effects between channels 4) A simple concatenation is used, one segment follows another segment 5) Concatenation only occurs at segment boundaries 6) There is no mechanism to position and overlay segments finely in time 7) No provision for synchronization and mixing of multiple tracks.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,315,057 by Land, et al describes a system for dynamically composing music in response to events and actions during interactive computer/video games. Some disadvantages of this invention are: 1) The sound is generated by synthetic methods which is significantly inferior to humanly created musical compositions 2) Recording artist creativity and control is not embedded in the process 3) Decisions based on real time inputs.
Another group of prior art deals with the creation and synthesis of music compositions automatically by computer or computer algorithm. An example is U.S. Pat. No. 5,496,962 by Meier, et al. A very significant disadvantage of this type approach is the reliance on a computer or algorithm that is somehow infused with the creative, emotional and psychological understanding equivalent to that of recording artists. A second disadvantage is that the recording artist has been removed from the process, without ultimate control over the creation that the listener experiences. Additional disadvantages include the use of synthetic means and the lack of artist participation and experimentation during the creation process.
All of this prior art has significant disadvantages and limitations, largely because these inventions were not directed toward the creation and playback of recording-industry compositions that are unique on each playback.
A method for the creation and playback of recording industry music and audio, such that each time a composition is played back, a unique audio version is generated in the manner previously defined by the recording artist.
During composition creation, the artist""s definition of how the composition will vary from playback to playback is embedded into the composition data set. During playback, the composition data set is processed on a playback device by a specific playback program the artist specified, so that each time the composition is played back a unique version is generated.
Accordingly, several objects and advantages of my invention over the xe2x80x9cstaticxe2x80x9d playback methods in use today include:
1.) Each time a recording artist""s composition is played back, a unique musical version is generated.
2.) The composition is embedded with the artist""s definition of how the composition varies from playback to playback.
3.) Allows the artist to create a composition that more closely approximates live music.
4.) Provides new creative dimensions to the recording artist via playback variability.
5.) Allows the artist to use playback variability to increase the depth of the listener""s experience.
6.) Increases the psychological complexity of a recording artist""s composition.
7.) Allows listeners to experience psychological xe2x80x9cfreshnessxe2x80x9d over a greater number of playbacks. Listeners are less likely to become tired of a composition.
8.) Playback variability can be used as a teaching tool (for example, learning a language or music appreciation).
Several objects and advantages of my invention over the prior art music instruments and sound effects include:
9.) The recording artist has complete control over the music generated on playback. The artist has complete control of the nature of the xe2x80x9calivenessxe2x80x9d in their creation. (it""s not randomly generated).
10.) Human artists create the music through experimentation and creativity (it""s not synthetically generated).
11.) The composition definition contains the artist""s definition of the playback variability.
12.) Generates multiple channels (e.g., stereo or quad).
13.) Artist can create complementary variability effects across multiple channels.
14.) During playback, variable selection and mixing of multiple tracks occurs in the manner defined by the artist.
15.) During playback, variable special effects editing may be performed.
16.) Compatible with the studio recording process used by today""s recording industry.
17.) Compatible with the special effects editing used by today""s recording industry.
18.) Does not require listener action to obtain the xe2x80x9calivenessxe2x80x9d during playback.
19.) New and improved playback programs can be continually accommodated without impacting previously released pseudo-live compositions (backward compatibility).
20.) Allows simultaneous advancement in two different areas of expertise:
a) the creative use of a playback program by artists.
b) the advancement of the playback programs by technologists.
Other objects and advantages of my invention include:
21.) Each composition definition is digital data of fixed and known size in a known format.
22.) The composition data and playback program can be stored and distributed on any conventional digital storage mechanism (such as disk or memory) and can be broadcast or transmitted across networks (such as, airwaves, wireless networks or Internet).
23.) Pseudo-live music can be played on a wide range of hardware and systems including dedicated players, portable devices, personal computers and web browsers.
24.) The playback device can be located near the listener or remotely from the listener across a network or broadcast medium.
25.) The composition data format allows software tools to be developed to aid the artist in the composition creating process.
Additional objects and advantages of my invention due to optional enhancements to the invention include:
26.) Pseudo-live playback devices can be configured to playback both existing xe2x80x9cstaticxe2x80x9d compositions and pseudo-live compositions. This facilitates a gradual transition by the recording industry from xe2x80x9cstaticxe2x80x9d recordings to xe2x80x9cpseudo-livexe2x80x9d compositions.
27.) It is possible to optionally default to a fixed unchanging playback that is equivalent to the conventional xe2x80x9cstaticxe2x80x9d music playback.
28.) Playback processing can be pipelined so that playback may begin before all the composition data has been downloaded or processed.
29.) Playback music can adapt to characteristics of the listener""s playback system (for example, number of speakers, stereo or quad system, etc).
30.) The artist may also control the amount of variability as a function of elapsed calendar time since composition release (or the number of times the composition has been played back). For example, no or little variability immediately following a composition""s initial release, but increased variability after several months.
31.) The listener""s system may include a variability control, which can be adjusted from no variability (i.e., the fixed default version) to the full variability defined by the recording artist in the composition definition.
Although the above discussion is directed to the creation and playback of recording industry music and audio, it may also be applied to any other type of audio creation. Further objects and advantages of my invention will become apparent from a consideration of the drawings and ensuing description.